It is known in the prior art to use vehicles as probes for measuring traffic conditions in real-time. Individual vehicles provide “floating car data”, such as, for example, the vehicle's time, speed, position, and heading, which can be used to estimate travel time and traffic speed.
It can be desirable, for a variety of different purposes, to have access to real-time traffic data. This data can be used, for example, as an online indicator of road network status, as a basis for detecting incidents, or as input for a dynamic route guidance system. A Traffic Data Service, for example, uses such information to provide real-time traffic information to subscribers. The service depends both on the ability to collect and use traffic data received from probe vehicles, and on the integrity of the collected data. When this data is associated, such as by a user ID, with a particular probe vehicle, or a particular owner or operator of a probe vehicle, it may be considered to be private information, the collection of which may have significant social or legal implications. One way to address privacy concerns is to not associate the data in this manner, i.e., to collect the data from sources that remain entirely anonymous. Unfortunately, this approach could potentially adversely impact the authenticity and integrity of the collected data.